Episodes Feed
EP 182: Carlos Tkacz & Steph Letourneau
Carlos Tkacz returns and is joined by his partner Steph Letourneau for a sitdown here in Rocklands. We talked about their diet habits, lessons from their 7 trips to Rocklands, learning to try harder, comparison games, respecting the difficulty of climbing, being good at being consistent, balancing your carbon footprint, making the most of a climbing trip to South Africa, writing novels, and much more!
EP 179: Cat Runner
Cat Runner is the winner of the HBO show The Climb. Cat sat down with me and Ethan Pringle at our cabin here in Rocklands to talk about what his life has looked like after The Climb, his experience filming the show, the stereotypical trans narrative in the media, why he chooses to be visible, his ungendered childhood, gender roles in sports, why people feel threatened by trans or queer identities, dealing with trolls, owning your accomplishments, building the Queer Climber’s Network, Rocklands highlights, and much more!
EP 178: Ethan Pringle Returns
Ethan Pringle is back on the podcast! We talked about our first few weeks in Rocklands, the style of climbing here, his plans to try Monkey Wedding 8C, nemesis boulders, micromanaging holds, two habits that Ethan does every day, taking your time while executing hard moves, adjusting on holds, and Ethan talked about his dad’s life after his stroke, his final weeks, and his passing on November 6, 2022.
EP 175: Ady Wright
Ady Wright is a climbing instructor and routesetter based in New York. We met up in Red Rock and recorded a nice long chat in the van, covering her introduction to climbing and routesetting, why she pivoted from veterinary science, being raised by a cautious father, analyzing risk, the benefits of meal prepping, losing her grandmother to cancer, the pressure that comes with opportunity, the rebellious act of existing, and much more!
EP 174: Bernd Zangerl
Bernd Zangerl a bouldering legend from Austria. We talked about his early climbing and making the 2nd ascent of Dreamtime, some of his proudest FAs, how he recovered from a career-ending injury in 2016, his mindset for highballs, meditation and the power of the mind, believing in love, our impact as climbers, sustainability, and discovering world-class bouldering in the Himalayas.
EP 172: Brittany Leavitt
Brittany Leavitt is a climber, backpacker, educator, and the co-founder and CEO of Brown Girls Climb (BGC). We talked about Brittany’s climbing origin story, her unique family upbringing, unmasking and educating about race, teaching kids at the Smithsonian, the mission of BGC, creating more accessible spaces, lessons from her first road trip, using TikTok to stay informed, climbing goals, inspiration, and much more.
EP 164: Melina Costanza
Melina Costanza is a competition powerhouse and the 2021 US Boulder National Champion. She opened up recently about her struggles with an eating disorder and decided to step away from competitions. We talked about her foot injury and surgery, why patent law is similar to climbing, how sports glamorize suffering, getting stronger during recovery, how gratitude can impact your training, and fun facts about Melina from ketchup to baby teeth necklaces.
EP 157: Jeannie Wall
Jeannie Wall (aka “The Energizer Bunny”) is a world-class skier, life-long mountain athlete, and obsessed climber. She cofounded Broad Beta to cultivate a community for women and genderqueer folks to share their stories of outdoor adventures in the mountains. We talked about lessons from her upbringing, the importance of partnerships and mentorship in climbing, slowing down to go fast, engaging with the edge of our comfort zone, ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and much more!
EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt
Anna Hazelnutt is a professional climber who specializes in difficult single-pitch trad and slab climbing. But don’t let her specialization fool you—she’s an all-around badass! We talked about two of her biggest climbing achievements to date, leaning into her superpowers, top training exercises for slabs, dealing with negative comments online, embracing empathy, comedy as a mechanism for change, and much more!
EP 150: Luke Mehall
Luke Mehall is the creator of The Climbing Zine and The Dirtbag State of Mind podcast. In this episode, we take turns interviewing each other. I ask Luke why he started The Climbing Zine, what lessons climbing has taught him, what themes connect the stories he selects, and how to sustain creative work. He asks me about my origin story with The Nugget, what all of these interviews have brought to my life, and the difficulties I’ve faced along the way.
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee
New interview featuring me! Isabel von Rittberg is a good friend of mine and the host of Kegels and Coffee. She interviewed me on her podcast earlier this year to talk about my experience with my first-ever panic attack in December of 2021. We talked about what led up to the panic attack and how it was a wake-up call for me, how to stay sane while getting the work done, and much more.
*This was one of the most vulnerable interviews I’ve done. And it’s one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy :)
EP 148: Alan Watts (Repost)
I often get asked, “what is your favorite interview you’ve ever done?” Firstly, I don’t have a favorite. But if I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE, it would be this episode. Alan Watts is a fascinating character in climbing history and a personal hero of mine. This interview was such a treat. I loved revisiting it for this repost. Enjoy!
*This episode was originally published in EP 04, in February 2020.
EP 147: Alayna Joy
Alayna Joy is a queer content creator and YouTuber, and newly obsessed climber. We talked about her journey of discovering she is gay, coming out publicly on her already-successful YouTube channel, how climbing has become an anchor for her, compulsory heterosexuality, questions we should ask ourselves, queerness in climbing, why our climbing progress slows down over time, and much more.
EP 144: Marisa Michael
Marisa Michael is a registered dietitian nutritionist with 20 years of experience who specializes in eating disorders in athletes and climbers. We talked about the characteristics of eating disorders, the line between eating for performance and disordered eating, why losing weight won’t make you climb harder, recommendations for climbers and youth athletes, intuitive eating, Marisa’s sweet tooth, and much more.
EP 141: Robbie Phillips
Robbie Phillips is a professional adventure climber and filmmaker from Scotland. We talked about his recent trip to the Western Isles of Scotland, his path from competitions to adventure climbing, top rope soloing to project hard routes, things he learned from climbing with Dave MacLeod, processing grief, capturing memories through filmmaking, and much more.
EP 140: Tommy Caldwell
Tommy Caldwell is the most accomplished big wall free climber alive. He is best known for having free climbed The Dawn Wall, the most difficult big wall free route in the world. We talked about his achilles injury, doing the FA of Flex Luthor, training for V12 boulder problems on The Dawn Wall, undone lines on El Cap, exploring the limits of human endurance, being vulnerable through writing a book, parenting, and much more.
EP 129: Dorian Evers
Dorian Evers is an individual and couples therapist in Boulder, CO. We talked about navigating different stoke levels in your relationship, how to create a safe space for your partner to be vulnerable, how to have difficult conversations, common insecurities and fears in relationships, tips for long-distance relationships, vanlife dating tips, and much more.
EP 128: Callie Joy Black
Callie Joy Black is a strength coach who specializes in training during pregnancy and postpartum. We talked about the most common concerns she hears from pregnant women, falling risk while pregnant, returning to climbing postpartum, strength training during pregnancy, climbing hard with kids, being selfish and creating boundaries, and being your own project.
EP 126: Devin Dabney
Devin Dabney is a rock climber, routesetter, rapper, music producer, writer, and creator of The American Climbing Project podcast. We talked about using humor to talk about uncomfortable subjects, inviting people into conversations, how climbing saved his life after considering suicide, breaking down barriers to climbing, how competition makes us better, and making a difference in the climbing community.
EP 125: Zofia Reych
Zofia Reych is a Polish climber and anthropologist and author of Born to Climb. We talked about renovating their mid-18th century house in Fontainebleau, researching the book, identifying as non-binary and directing the Women’s Bouldering Festival, what it’s like to be autistic, key chapters in climbing’s history, losing friends in the mountains, and much more.